Police looking at love triangle as possible motive in fatal coffee shop shooting

By: Morexette Marie B. Erram - 6 years ago

Police cordon the Good Coffee Company on F. Ramos St., Cebu City where 2 persons were killed and 2 others were wounded by a masked gunman past 12 a.m. of April 11, 2019. | CDND file photo

CEBU CITY, Philippines — Investigators are including love-triangle as another possible motive behind the shooting incident inside a coffee shop along F. Ramos Street, Cebu City on Wednesday, April 10, that claimed the lives of an award-winning barista and a graduating college student.

Police Major Eduard Sanchez, Fuente Police Station chief, said they received information that the past relationships of John Michael Hermoso, one of the victims who died, could have been the cause of the fatal attack at the Coffee Cup Company at past 11:20 p.m. on Wednesday.

“Mao na atong gisubay. Mao na among tan-awon run. Atong tan-awon unsay dagan sa kinabuhi ni Michael. Basin tungod sa gugma ba, unsay hinungdan nganong naay grabeng kalagot ang suspect (That’s what we’re monitoring now. We will look into that. We will trace Michael’s personal life. Maybe, because of love, and why the suspect was really mad with the victim),” said Sanchez.

He added that investigators had a reason to believe that Hermoso was the sole target of the gunman, who remained unidentified and at large.

Sanchez said that based on closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage they obtained, the suspect first shot Hermoso. The 29-year-old co-owner and head barista of the coffee shop sustained two gunshot wounds in his vital organs – his intestine, liver, kidney, heart, and lungs.

“Gi una niya ug tira si Michael (Hermoso). Duha ka bala so duha ka shot. Tumba diretso si Michael. Naigo si Michael sa vital organs – so sa may intestine, sa liver, kidney, heart, and lungs (The suspect first shot Michael. Two bullet wounds so that’s two shots. Michael immediately fell on the floor. Michael’s vital organs were hit – on the intestine, liver, kidney, heart, and lungs),” he added.

But Sanchez clarified that they were still not discounting the previous angle — the possibility that the shooting incident could be business-related.

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Aside from Hermoso, the suspect also shot the coffee shop’s cashier, Kis Tryvl Ramos. Ramos was rushed to a nearby hospital but physicians declared her dead on arrival.

Two more employees, identified as Sherwin Rivera and Jerome Amada, also sustained gunshot wounds. Both are still confined in a hospital for further treatment.